“The 48 Laws of Power” by Robert Greene is a self-help book that offers advice on how to gain and maintain power. Here is a summary of each law:
- Never Outshine the Master – Make those above you feel superior. Do not show your talents too much; it might make your superiors feel insecure.
- Never Put Too Much Trust in Friends; Learn How to Use Enemies – Be wary of friends—they will betray you more quickly because they are more easily aroused to envy. Enemies are more predictable and can be won over with greater ease.
- Conceal Your Intentions – Keep people off-balance by never revealing the purpose behind your actions.
- Always Say Less Than Necessary – When trying to impress, the more you say, the more common you appear and less in control.
- So Much Depends on Reputation; Guard It with Your Life – Reputation is the cornerstone of power, and it is critical to maintain it and protect it.
- Court Attention at All Costs – Everything is judged by appearance, what is unseen counts for nothing. Never get lost in the crowd.
- Get Others to Do the Work for You, but Always Take the Credit – Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of others to further your own cause.
- Make Other People Come to You; Use Bait if Necessary – When you force others to act, you are in control.
- Win Through Your Actions, Never Through Argument – It is more powerful to agree through actions rather than through argument.
- Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky – You can die from someone else’s misery—emotional states are as infectious as diseases.
- Learn to Keep People Dependent on You – If they need you, you have more power.
- Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm Your Victim – A timely gift or honest admission can disarm even the most suspicious person.
- When Asking for Help, Appeal to People’s Self-Interest, Never Their Mercy or Gratitude – If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of your past assistance and good deeds.
- Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy – Learn to probe and find valuable information while giving away nothing.
- Crush Your Enemy Totally – All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely.
- Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor – Too much circulation makes the price go down.
- Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability – Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in other people’s actions.
- Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself; Isolation is Dangerous – The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere; everyone has to protect themselves.
- Know Who You’re Dealing with; Do Not Offend the Wrong Person – Never assume that the person you are dealing with is weaker or less important than you are.
- Do Not Commit to Anyone – Fools rush to pick a side. Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself.
- Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker; Seem Dumber than Your Mark – No one likes feeling stupider than the next person.
- Use the Surrender Tactic: Transform Weakness into Power – When you are weaker, never fight for honor’s sake; choose surrender instead.
- Concentrate Your Forces – Concentrate your forces to a point where they can make the maximum impact.
- Play the Perfect Courtier – Master the art of indirection, flattery, and the social arts.
- Re-Create Yourself – Create an identity that commands attention and never bores.
- Keep Your Hands Clean – Never get your hands dirty in public; maintain an untarnished reputation.
- Play on People’s Need to Believe to Create a Cultlike Following – People have a need to believe in something; become the focal point of such desire.
- Enter Action with Boldness – If you are unsure, do not show it.
- Plan All the Way to the End – By planning to the end, you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances.
- Make Your Accomplishments Seem Effortless – Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease.
- Control the Options: Get Others to Play with the Cards You Deal – The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other person a choice.
- Play to People’s Fantasies – The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant.
- Discover Each Man’s Thumbscrew – Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall.
- Be Royal in Your Own Fashion: Act Like a King to Be Treated Like One – The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated.
- Master the Art of Timing – Never seem in a hurry—hurrying betrays a lack of control over yourself.
- Disdain Things You Cannot Have: Ignoring Them is the Best Revenge – By acknowledging a petty problem, you give it existence and credibility.
- Create Compelling Spectacles – Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power.
- Think as You Like but Behave Like Others – If you make a show of going against the times, people will paint you as the enemy.
- Stir Up Waters to Catch Fish – Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive.
- Despise the Free Lunch – What is offered for free is dangerous—it usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation.
- Avoid Stepping into a Great Man’s Shoes – What happens first always appears better and more original than what comes after.
- Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep Will Scatter – Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual.
- Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others – Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you.
- Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect – The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception.
- Preach the Need for Change, but Never Reform Too Much at Once – If you are too zealous in your efforts to change, you will create resistance.
- Never Appear Too Perfect – Appearing better than others is dangerous, but most dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses.
- Do Not Go Past the Mark You Aimed For; In Victory, Learn When to Stop – The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril.
- Assume Formlessness – By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack.